Solar System News

October 7, 2023

Top Headlines

Astronomers Discover First Step Toward Planet Formation

Oct. 6, 2023 — Astronomers have gotten very good at spotting the signs of planet formation around stars. But for a complete understanding of planet formation, we also need to study examples where planet formation has not yet started. Looking for something and not ...

Plot Thickens in Hunt for Ninth Planet

Oct. 5, 2023 — A pair of theoretical physicists are reporting that the same observations inspiring the hunt for a ninth planet might instead be evidence within the solar system of a modified law of gravity originally developed to understand the rotation of ...

Large Mound Structures on Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth May Have Common Origin

Oct. 3, 2023 — A new study posits that the large, approximately 5-kilometer-long mounds that dominate the appearance of the larger lobe of the pristine Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth are similar enough to suggest a ...

New Insights Into the Atmosphere and Star of an Exoplanet

Sep. 25, 2023 — A new study of the intriguing TRAPPIST-1 exoplanetary system has demonstrated the complex interaction between the activity of the system's star and its planetary ...

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updated 9:04pm EDT

Carbon Source Found on Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa

Sep. 22, 2023 — Astronomers using data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have identified carbon dioxide in a specific region on the icy surface of ...

New Mars Gravity Analysis Improves Understanding of Possible Ancient Ocean

Sep. 20, 2023 — The first use of a novel method of analyzing Mars' gravitational force supports the idea that the planet once had an extensive northern ocean. In doing so, the method defines the scope of what ...

New Findings Suggest Moon May Have Less Water Than Previously Thought

Sep. 18, 2023 — A team recently calculated that most of the Moon's permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) are at most around 3.4 billion years old and can contain relatively young deposits of water ice. Water resources ...

Electrons from Earth May Be Forming Water on the Moon

Sep. 14, 2023 — Planetary scientists have discovered that high energy electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes on the Moon's surface and, importantly, the electrons may have aided ...

Water World? Methane, Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere of Massive Exoplanet

Sep. 11, 2023 — A new investigation with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope into K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon ...

Scientists Detect and Validate the Longest-Period Exoplanet Found With TESS

Aug. 31, 2023 — Scientists have detected and validated two of the longest-period exoplanets found by TESS to date. These long period large exoplanets orbit a K dwarf star and belong to a class of planets known as ...

New Giant Planet Evidence of Possible Planetary Collisions

Aug. 31, 2023 — A Neptune-sized planet denser than steel has been discovered by an international team of astronomers, who believe its composition could be the result of a giant planetary ...

Neptune's Disappearing Clouds Linked to the Solar Cycle

Aug. 29, 2023 — Astronomers have uncovered a link between Neptune's shifting cloud abundance and the 11-year solar cycle, in which the waxing and waning of the Sun's entangled magnetic fields drives solar ...

Mysterious Neptune Dark Spot Detected from Earth for the First Time

Aug. 24, 2023 — Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed a large dark spot in Neptune's atmosphere, with an unexpected smaller bright spot adjacent to it. This is the first time a dark spot ...

Hundred-Year Storms? That's How Long They Last on Saturn

Aug. 11, 2023 — Megastorms regularly appear on Saturn, marring the relatively bland surface before disappearing. But radio observations show that the storms have long-lasting effects deeper in the atmosphere, in ...

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Summaries
Headlines

Possible Seasonal Climate Patterns on Early Mars

Aug. 9, 2023 — New observations of mud cracks made by the Curiosity Rover show that high-frequency, wet-dry cycling occurred in early Martian surface environments, indicating that the red planet may have once seen ...

Dune Patterns Reveal Environmental Change on Earth and Other Planets

Aug. 2, 2023 — Researchers have analyzed the shifting patterns of entire dune fields on Earth and Mars, as seen from orbit, and found they are a direct signature of recent environmental change. This new tool can be ...

James Webb Space Telescope Sees Jupiter Moons in a New Light

July 27, 2023 — Last year, JWST made spectral observations of Ganymede and infrared observations of Io. Absorption lines of hydrogen peroxide at Ganymede's poles indicate radiolysis of water ice by charged ...

In New Space Race, Scientists Propose Geoarchaeology Can Aid in Preserving Space Heritage

July 21, 2023 — The material record that currently exists on the moon is rapidly becoming at risk of being destroyed if proper attention isn't paid during the new space era, scientists say. They propose a new ...

Ancient, High-Energy Impacts Could Have Fueled Venus Volcanism

July 20, 2023 — A team has modeled the early impact history of Venus to explain how Earth's sister planet has maintained a youthful surface despite lacking plate tectonics. The team compared the early collision ...

Does This Exoplanet Have a Sibling Sharing the Same Orbit?

July 19, 2023 — Astronomers have found the possible 'sibling' of a planet orbiting a distant star. The team has detected a cloud of debris that might be sharing this planet's orbit and which, they ...

Giant Swirling Waves at Edge of Jupiter's Magnetosphere

July 17, 2023 — A team has found that NASA's Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter frequently encounters giant swirling waves at the boundary between the solar wind and Jupiter's magnetosphere. The waves are an ...

Webb Celebrates First Year of Science With Close-Up on Birth of Sun-Like Stars

July 12, 2023 — From our cosmic backyard in the solar system to distant galaxies near the dawn of time, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has delivered on its promise of revealing the universe like never before ...

New Study Reveals Evidence of Diverse Organic Material on Mars

July 12, 2023 — Scientists gain vital insights into Mars' history and potential for supporting ...

Gauging the Strength of Ancient and Active Rivers Beyond Earth

July 10, 2023 — A new technique allows scientists to see how intensely rivers used to flow on Mars, and how they currently flow on Titan. The method uses satellite observations to estimate the rate at which rivers ...

Earth Formed from Dry, Rocky Building Blocks

July 5, 2023 — A new study shows that the so-called planetesimals that accreted together to form Earth must have been composed of dry, rocky ...

New Image from James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Astonishing Saturn and Its Rings

July 1, 2023 — Saturn's iconic rings seem to glow eerily in this incredible infrared picture, which also unveils unexpected features in Saturn's atmosphere. This image serves as context for an observing ...

Gullies on Mars Could Have Been Formed by Recent Periods of Liquid Meltwater, Study Suggests

June 29, 2023 — A study offers new insights into how water from melting ice could have played a recent role in the formation of ravine-like channels that cut down the sides of impact craters on ...

Molecular Filament Shielded Young Solar System from Supernova

June 22, 2023 — Isotope ratios found in meteorites suggest that a supernova exploded nearby while the Sun and Solar System were still forming. But the blast wave from a supernova that close could have potentially ...

Exoplanet May Reveal Secrets About the Edge of Habitability

June 21, 2023 — How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that ...

Jupiter's Moon Europa May Have Had a Slow Evolution

June 17, 2023 — Europa may have a metamorphic origin for the ocean. While some scientists speculated this, a research team shows that if Europa indeed formed from hydrated rocks (i.e., rocks have hydrogen and ...

Researchers Demystify the Unusual Origin of the Geminids Meteor Shower

June 15, 2023 — Princeton researchers used observations from NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission to deduce that it was likely a violent, catastrophic event -- such as a high-speed collision with another body or a ...

Earth Was Created Much Faster Than We Thought: This Makes the Chance of Finding Other Habitable Planets in the Universe More Likely

June 14, 2023 — Over the past decades, researchers thought Earth was created over a period of more than 100 million years. However, a new study from suggests that the creation of Earth was much more rapid, and that ...

A Scorching-Hot Exoplanet Scrutinized by Astronomers

June 14, 2023 — Through the Gemini-North Telescope in Hawai'i, the chemical composition of WASP-76 b is revealed in unprecedented detail, giving new insights also into the composition of giant ...

Key Building Block for Life Found at Saturn's Moon Enceladus

June 14, 2023 — The search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system just got more exciting. A team of scientists has discovered new evidence that the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus contains a ...

Wednesday, August 9, 2023